A Sports Filled Weekend

The NFL draft remains one of the odder TV attractions. Nothing actually happens. Certainly not in the athletic sense. The clips of players are from the past, there’s no game, just intrigue as teams try to maneuver up and down to either collect more picks or get a specific player.

Fortunately, it is all analyzed in detail by about 20 people, so viewers can be bored and mystified at the same time.

The draft kicked off on Thursday night and continues on Friday night and Saturday. How can there be a Weekend TV Six-Pack without, you’ll pardon the pun, a draft? Relax, plop your heiner in the recliner, and prepare for a period of simulated exhilaration.

Friday night is rounds two and three of the draft, which begins at 7 p.m. ESPN and NFL Network show it, with ESPN moving its coverage to ESPN2 at 8 p.m. (all times Eastern). Each team has seven minutes to make its pick.

Saturday brings rounds four through seven, commencing at noon, again on ESPN and NFL Network. Each team has five minutes to select a player.

Interested in actual competition? The Charlotte Hornets are a win away from sending the Miami Heat packing in the NBA playoffs. They lead this opening-round series 3-2 and are at home, where they’re particularly good, on Friday night at 8 p.m. (ESPN). The Toronto Raptors, who lead the Indiana Pacers 3-2, are at the Pacers on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. on ESPNEWS.

In the NHL playoffs, Saturday is a good day to watch the puck. The New York Islanders, up 1-0 on the Tampa Bay Lightning, try to stretch that advantage at 3 p.m. on NBC. The Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals play Game 2 in the spotlight on Saturday night – 8 p.m. on NBC. The Caps won the first one 4-3 in overtime on Thursday night.

Anything at those NASCAR legacy tracks is worth a peek, so tune in to Fox on Sunday at 1 p.m. for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

As always, watch responsibly.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman